My necessities for a recent housing search in Portland… and the front rack bag I crammed it all into. (Photos: Erin Bailie)
Hi! I’m Erin Bailie, and I’ll be moving from Seattle to Portland (Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood) in February. By day I work a tech job in product/research, and I love using bicycles as my primary means of transportation. In my 30-something years I’ve lived a lot of bike lives: I’ve been bike commuting since second grade, sometimes I do track racing or go bikepacking, and I love Pedalpalooza. Reading BikePortland has been part of my morning routine for years, and I can’t wait to chronicle some of my thoughts as a newcomer to town.
Though my husband Jonathan and I will be new to Portland, Portland won’t be new to us. Over the past few years, we’ve found any excuse we can to visit for the weekend. We’ve driven, taken Amtrak, and once we even rode the whole way to Portland (thanks, STP!). When the opportunity knocked for Jonathan to take a job in Portland, we couldn’t say “yes!” fast enough.
The month before our move, we spent a week in Portland with the sole purpose of finding housing. Each day played out in a chaotic frenzy: I crammed my necessities and laptop into a front rack bag and rode from our lodging in Richmond, to rental showings across northeast and southeast, to co-working spaces to dial into meetings — and tried to find a gluten-free lunch somewhere along the way.
While I didn’t record my GPS during this ride, I tried to recreate my confused meandering between Sandy Blvd and the Blumenauer Bridge. Still getting my bearings, clearly.
I thought I was clear to ride in my “girl clothes” at one point. Mother Nature proved me wrong. I get the hype around cycling capes now.
And here’s the thing: I had the time of my life. Before rolling off, I’d memorize key details for my route: the cross streets of my destination, or which bridge I wanted to use to cross I-84. From there, I could zig-zag as I pleased on neighborhood greenways to get from A to B. That’s not to say there weren’t hiccups. While riding from Tabor to Lloyd, I knew I needed to find my way to northbound 7th Ave to cross I-84 on the Blumenauer Bridge. Except… all the bikeways kept turning south, away from the highway. A quick stop to check Google Maps got me on Ankeny and back on my way.
As I crossed the bridge and found my co-working space just in time for my meeting, I reflected on how infrequently a piece of infrastructure is named for a person who’s still living. (I look forward to learning more about Earl Blumenauer’s legacy on Portland, seems like a required part of becoming a True Portlander.)
A recurring theme of that week was clothing. January weather did what January weather does: it rained, it was windy, it was cold. I have plenty of clothes from REI to keep me warm and dry in those conditions, but I don’t love showing up to house showings or work calls in a dripping-wet jacket. I met with a friend for dinner and she rolled up in a waxed canvas cycling cape, and I silently wondered how long I would hold out before buying one for myself. We giggled about how nice it was to wear “girl clothes” under a rain layer, something I only wish for with my cycling jacket.
We’ve signed a lease and are back in Seattle to pack our things before fully moving in to Portland in early February. I can’t wait to ride more streets, meet more people, and learn how to call Portland home. Hope you’ll follow along as I share my perspective as a new Portland biker.
